Laaerberg College Campus

At the time that the Laaerberg College Campus was handed over to its students in September 2009, the building was Austria’s largest and most modern university of applied sciences. 30 lecture halls, 35 seminar rooms and 90 functional rooms such as laboratories and IT suites, a library and a further 150 spaces for research and development are housed in the generously designed building complex, boasting 37,000m² of usable space. The campus also has a cafeteria, a canteen with a large kitchen, and an event hall.

Throughout the building’s construction there was a special focus on using high-quality, environmentally sound materials and optimising energy use. For example, concrete core activation was used for the ecological cooling of the building’s interior. One execution highlight is the so-called Cobiax, involving hollow space in the reinforced concrete slabs that facilitates a significant reduction in the weight of the building. The entire waterproofing of the building used a “brown tank” method, along with bentonite mats on the basement walls. 

During the construction phase the site team had to master an array of unexpected challenges: for example, there was a major fire in April 2009 that completely destroyed the container of the site management and supervisors, along with numerous documents and files. Furthermore, contaminated material from a brickyard came to light during the construction works; this originated from the production site of the Altes Landgut in the first half of the 19^th century. This discovery meant that PORR Umwelttechnik had to remove around 90,000 additional m³ of earth and use vibro-displacement compaction for the foundations. Despite these obstacles, the team managed to meet the agreed deadline for the handover.